Novel Coronavirus affects all of us. It is a threat to our lives, our livelihoods, and the lives and livelihoods of our friends and families.

We as students deeply appreciate that ASU is already tackling COVID-19 by transitioning to online classes, enforcing strict sanitary policies in dining halls, and limiting non-essential group gatherings. However, these preventative measures do little against those already affected by COVID-19. In our Sun Devil family, we have foreign exchange and out-of-state students stranded hundreds or even thousands of miles away from their homes and families. We have students who are suddenly and indefinitely out of work and income, and we have students whose families are in peril due to the economic effects of COVID-19 on their job security and retirement funds. Some Sun Devils may have friends and family infected with the virus itself, whose lives are at stake.

Students are stressed for a number of diverse reasons during the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic. Whether financial, physical, or mental, students are receiving little help in this trying time. We are worried about our loved ones we cannot visit; we are worried about money and our financial situations; we are worried for our own safety, whether we are immunocompromised or otherwise. With mandated social isolation, few of us are spending time with friends and loved ones, getting physical activity, getting adequate sleep, or doing recreational activities, further worsening our mental health. And, of course, the transition to online classes was unexpected. Students did not knowingly sign up for online classes, and many Sun Devils don't learn well in online environments or simply aren't adjusted to them. With tutoring and office hours also online, the transition is even more alien. 

Coronavirus is affecting the entire world, and its effects are naturally felt strongly here, too, on ASU campuses. Students shouldn't have to stress over maintaining perfect grades in a new, online environment while lives are at stake. They shouldn't have to put their academics over their physical and mental health. 

Arizona State University should follow in the footsteps of other respected universities such as MIT, Smith College, and Grinnell College by offering the option for grades to be reported on official transcripts as pass/fail for this semester. This would alleviate stress for students whose minds are already preoccupied with direct affects of the virus. A more lenient grading scale for this semester would benefit students stranded in other time zones who are losing sleep to attend Zoom classes, students with friends, family, and loved ones who are affected with the virus, immunocompromised and at-risk students, and students shouldering the financial burdens caused by Novel Coronavirus.

By implementing this change, ASU would demonstrate how much it cares for the mental and physical well-being of its students by alleviating some of the stress caused by maintaining high letter grades and a high GPA in the midst of what is shaping up to be the biggest pandemic yet of this century.